The period between the Maccabean Revolt and Roman rule of Judea is not
represented by any writings in the Scriptures, but like all things that
touch the history of Israel and Christ, it is worth studying. The
Hasmoneans, named after the house of Hasmon, are not related to David,
but are a priestly family from the tribe of Levi.

The Maccabean Revolt started when Mattathias, a Hasmonean, refused to
offer sacrifice to pagan gods, with the eventual result that the Temple
was purged and rededicated an event the Jews celebrate at Hanukkah for
eight days.

After the fighting had ended and Roman and Spartan rulers had expressed
their support for Simon Maccabeus as high priest, and King Demetrius
confirmed Simon as high priest and afforded him most of the traditional
effects of a king, though Simon was not granted that title.

At the time of the Greeks, the Davidic line passes into obscurity, and
the political power in Israel is held by the high priests. One such
high priest, Onias II, refuses to pay taxes to the Ptolemaic empire.
The Tobiad family steps in to cover the debt, and winds up becoming
responsible for the tax collection in Israel. The Seleucid Empire takes
over Israel, and gives the Jews certain concessions for their
assistance.

Onias III becomes high priest, and owing to a dispute with the governor
of the Temple, receives a favorable preliminary ruling from the
Seleucid Empire. Onias tries to confirm the ruling, but while he seeks
out this confirmation, a new emperor takes power, Antiochus IV
Epiphanes.

In Jerusalem, a new group of rulers also takes over, and a man named
Jason becomes high priest. Jason was not a particularly pious man, and
allows certain Hellenistic influences into Israel, most notably a
gymnasium. In this gymnasium, the men exercise naked, and in order to
appear more like the Greeks whom they exercise with, some Jews begin to
have cosmetic surgery to reverse their circumcisions.

Meanwhile, a man named Menelaus convinces the Seleucids to assassinate
Onias III and remove Jason to have himself named high priest. Menelaus
starts selling off temple vessels, and the people riot. Menelaus seeks
help from the Seleucids, who put down the riots bloodily. To keep the
peace, the Seleucids conscript some Jews to build a garrison near the
temple, and decide to begin construction on a Sabbath to prevent riots.
This backfires and there are even more riots. The pro-Greek populace
moved into the garrison and only left to enforce the edicts of the
empire. People fled Jerusalem, since it was not safe for either
orthodox or liberal.

Antiochus wages a preemptive war on Egypt and wins, but the cost of the
war causes him to despoil the Temple. As Antiochus attempts to
completely conquer Egypt, Rome intervenes and turns Antiochus back, who
now places the blame for this failure on the disunity in the empire
caused by the nonconforming Jews.

After the Persian period, the Greeks conquered a vast empire, spreading
Hellenistic Greek culture throughout the area from Rome to India.
Alexander the Great conquered the area from Rome and Egypt to India,
including Israel. This land would be divided after Alexander's death,
and the area including Israel was known as the Seleucid Empire, ruled
by Ptolemy. The Jews found themselves increasingly in opposition to
these new Greek rulers in Israel. This sets up the conditions which
will result in the Maccabean revolt.

The return to the land of Israel was an event which really broadened
the world of the Israelites. When Jews began forming a Diaspora, it
clarified the concept that God was not just a local deity, but rather
the God of the universe. Babylon, in particular, appears as a true
cosmopolis until the time when Revelation was written.

As previously stated, the Persians, unlike the Babylonians, allowed a
moderate amount of home rule, which was eventually exploited to build a
second temple around 522BC, after prodding by Haggai and Zechariah.
This second temple was much smaller than the temple built by Solomon,
and those who had seen the first temple were struck by the difference
between the two.

Zechariah and Haggai prophesy that Zerubbabel will see the completion
of the temple, and for that, he is part of the earthly lineage of the
Christ. While the people set about funding the rebuilding of their own
homes, they do not do all they can to fund the rebuilding of the
temple. God, through Haggai, chastises the people for not funding the
process and afflicts the land with a drought as punishment. The
rebuilding of the temple takes seven years, and then 50 years after
that, Nehemiah, the governor arrives in the land. Ezra proclaims the
law to the people, and for the Jews, this triumphant echo of Moses
forms the end of the historical books of the Hebrew Scriptures.